RMB continues pushing into Singapore with record bond issuance

The RMB continued its relentless march towards being a trade currency with over US$15 billion in RMB bond issuance in the city-state of Singapore - more than doubling the issuance of 10 years ago.

Increased issuance shows no sign of abating with The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announcing plans to issue 5 billion yuan (~US$800 million) in call loans to meet the short-term renminbi financing for institutions in Singapore. This is in response to increased local demand for RMB clearing in Singapore. The MAS is moving forward on the plans to help bolster confidence in the offshore RMB market and help local banks and financial institutions to provide better RMB products and services to their clients.

Central China Real Estate and Hainan Airlines were two of the most recent mainland China companies to issue RMB bonds in Singapore with US$160M and $273M respectively.

We're still in the early days of this though and with a pipeline of issues that far outstrips allowed supply, we're likely to see continued issuance and increased importance of RMB bonds in Singapore going forward.